Colorado Electricians, In Short Supply, Hold Career Fair

A career fair in the Denver metro hopes to lure a new generation into a critical trade: electrician.

The lack of skilled electricians is holding back construction, resulting sometimes in missed deadlines or scrapped projects.

So the Independent Electrical Contractors Rocky Mountain is holding a career fair in Northglenn on Wednesday, hoping to enroll people in training and apprentice programs.

Doug Hargrave, president of Iconergy, a general contractor, said it’s more than a demand problem.

"You have more and more people retiring," Hargrave said. "More and more men and women are getting out of those skilled trades. And we don’t see enough people getting into those trades, whether it’s through community colleges, high school programs.

Hargrave says part of the problem is kids don’t see that as a sexy career -- though it pays relatively well. Hargrave said they could be doing even more, if electrical companies had more trained workers.

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